Sunday, April 27, 2014

Officer Involved Shooting @ Residence in the 1100 Block of East 5thAvenue

On April 26th, shortly after 7 pm, Mesa patrol officers responded to a residence in the 1100 block of East 5th Avenue reference an in-progress residential burglary. A neighbor, and friend to the out of town homeowner, called to report an unknown subject inside the residence. He initially confronted the subject who responded by pointing a gun at him. This victim then called police and our officers were on-scene within minutes and set up a perimeter on the residence. The out of town homeowner (victim) confirmed to our officers (via telephone) that no one should be at the residence.

The suspect came out several times and on each occurrence would ignore the officers verbal commands. Due to the information about a gun, the officers maintained a safe distance, but ended up firing several "bean bag" rounds at the suspect, before ultimately sending our K9 "Jake" after him. The suspect received a bite, but dragged K9 Jake into the residence where it is believed he stabbed Jake multiple times, before releasing him out the front door. Jake was scooped up by his handler and rushed to an emergency vet.

The suspect came out of the residence again, this time waving what appeared to be a handgun, when one of our officers fired at least one round at the suspect. The suspect fell back into the residence, out of sight. After a safe time period with no response from the residence, Mesa SWAT entered the residence and located the suspect deceased. There appeared to be a handgun laying near the suspect. At this point in the investigation, it is unclear if the suspect's injuries are from the officer or self inflicted. As of this posting, investigators are on-scene trying to confirm these details.

The latest update on K9 Jake is that he is in surgery, but expected to survive his injuries.

We have received numerous contacts from citizens via social media expressing concern for our officers, including K9 Jake. These are the type of incidents every officer is trained for, but hopes never happens. They are always scary for our officers and the community. We are thankful no other officers or citizens were injured and sincerely appreciate the kind words from our community.